Turalyon
General Turalyon (aka High General Turalyon) is a famous paladin who served the Alliance army with distinction during and immediately after the Second War. He was second in command to Lord Anduin Lothar, the Supreme Allied Commander, and commanded half of the Alliance forces during the Second War while Anduin Lothar commanded the other half. During the assault on Blackrock Spire, Lord Lothar was struck down in combat with Orgrim Doomhammer. It was General Turalyon that picked up Lothar's battle standard and broken sword, and rallied the army of the Alliance to victory over the Horde, eventually capturing Doomhammer, and driving the orcs back to the Dark Portal. As the Lion's lieutenant, Turalyon was named Lothar's successor as Supreme Commander by the other (loyal) members of the Alliance. Since that day, Turalyon has been haunted by Lothar's death, which he believed was his fault. Biography The Second War Turalyon was handpicked by Alonsus Faol as one of the first Knights of the Silver Hand. He, along with his mentor, Uther the Lightbringer, and the other Knights, Tirion Fordring and Saidan Dathrohan, were tasked with assisting Lothar and Khadgar in organizing the defense of Lordaeron against the advancing Horde. Lothar made Turalyon his personal lieutenant, something Turalyon was quite nervous about . He developed a good rapport and lasting friendship with Khadgar. Turalyon was also introduced to Alleria Windrunner, the leader of a cadre of elven rangers who had come to aid the Alliance. Their attraction was painfully obvious to everyone but them. Turalyon fought at Lothar's side for the early battles of the war. Following the battle at Aerie Peak, however, the Alliance realized that the Horde's actual target wasn't the dwarves, but the elves; with the Alliance forces busy at the Peak, the Horde could slip in unopposed to the southern reaches of Quel'Thalas, placing them in the perfect position to launch an assault either on Silvermoon or Stromgarde. Lothar sent Turalyon and Khadgar with Alleria to stop the Horde before Quel'Thalas burned. Turalyon led his forces after them, but they were too late — the Horde had already seized Caer Darrow and set fire to Eversong Forest. The Allied forces managed to halt Horde's advance into inner Quel'Thalas, but not before much of the forest was burned and many elven civilians were killed. A distraught Alleria sought comfort in Turalyon's arms The disaster, however, convinced the elves to throw their full support behind the Alliance, and when Turalyon left Quel'Thalas, it was at the head of an elven armada. They arrived at Capital City just in time to turn back Doomhammer's siege, and then chased the orcs back across the sea. The Lion's Lieutenant Turalyon and his comrades rejoined the rest of the Alliance army at the liberation of Ironforge, forcing the Horde to retreat to Blackrock Spire itself. The battle proved to be a devastating for both sides. In the mist of the battle, he saw his commander engaging the orc warchief Doomhammer himself! Seeing the orc having the upper hand, Turalyon fought his way to Lothar's aid but he was continuously barred by orc warriors and he could do nothing more but watch as Doomhammer brought his hammer on Lothar's helm. Pushing anything in his way Turalyon went to the body of his hero, tears flowing as the warchief laughed and cried victory. Overcome with grief and anger, the paladin grabbed the Lion's shattered sword and rallied the Alliance forces with the fierce cry "For Sir Lothar!" that struck fear into the hearts of even the most blood thirsty orcs. The frenzied Alliance army attacked the demoralized orcs. In the mist of his anger, Turalyon almost killed Doomhammer but eventually spared his life. The battle lost, the Horde retreated to their last bastion: the Dark Portal. Turalyon gave chase, driving the orcs through the Portal itself, which Khadgar abruptly destroyed, seemingly ending the Horde menace and allowing the humans to rebuild. Expedition to Draenor Only a few years later, General Turalyon was handpicked by King Terenas Menethil II to lead an expeditionary force through the reformed Dark Portal and into Draenor. There, it was discovered that Ner'zhul, the orc shaman, was planning to use a number of powerful artifacts to open more portals, allowing the Horde to escape and plunder other worlds. The Alliance forces ultimately failed to stop Ner'zhul from opening and escaping into his portals, and the subsequent chaotic energy the portals released began to destroy the planet. Rather than risk Azeroth being damaged by Draenor's destruction, the brave paladin selflessly assisted Archmage Khadgar in destroying the Dark Portal on Draenor. He is immortalized in a massive stone statue in the Valley of Heroes in Stormwind, alongside the other leaders of the Alliance Expedition. The broken sword in his hand is most likely Lothar's, as he took up the shattered blade in combat against the Horde when Lothar fell. Personality When first appointed as Lothar's lieutenant, Turalyon was still unsure of his ability to lead. He was initially dumbstruck in the presence of Lothar. When he found himself separated from Lothar and in command of half of the Alliance forces, he fell back on the support of Khadgar and Alleria, who helped to increase his self-confidence. Strong in faith, if not as strong as his fellow paladins, namely Uther, Turalyon would draw upon his skill as a paladin and his experience in command to defeat Doomhammer. Valley of Heroes Monument Trivia: The broken sword in Turalyon's hand is the shattered Great Royal Sword of Anduin Lothar, which Turalyon used to defeat Orgrim Doomhammer after he killed Lothar. Memorable Quotes *"By the Light, your time here has ended! You are not of this world, not of the Holy Light. You do not belong here! Begone!" *"(To Doomhammer) You will stand trial for your crimes. You will stand in Capital City, in chains as the leaders of the Alliance decide your fate, and there you will acknowledge your full defeat. (Turns to the other orcs) But you will not be so lucky. You will die here, with the rest of your kind, and this world will be rid of your taint forever!" *"(To Khadgar when mentioning the Horde might return at the end of the Second War) I hope you are wrong. But if you are right, we will be here waiting for them when they return. And we will drive them back again, just as we did this time. This world is ours, and by the Holy Light we will keep it safe, now and forever." *"(After the Dark Portal exploded) We knew when we came through we might not be returning. Light, we expected to die-but we didn't. The portal's close. We did what we came here to do. What do we do now-that's up to us. There are others still out there-we need to find them, bring them back. We'll explore. Make new allies. Keep fighting the Horde, whatever's left here, so they don't ever try to do something like this again. The Light is still with us. We still have a job to do. This world will be what we choose to make of it." References Category:Lore characters Category:Humans Category:Major characters Category:Game characters